A little progres this week. A friend of mine wanted to do some fiberglass work on his rig yesterday, so we both bought gallons of cheap polyester resin from home depot yesterday. I mixed up a few oz and sealed my rear hatch with it.
The polyester stuff seems nice to work with, especially being able to use it in all temps. I figured out this morning (after a bit of reading online) that the surface of my hatch is going to stay tacky unless I coat the reson with paint or something. Sounds like the last layer of polyester resin on a part has to be mixed with some kind of wax to make it cure fully. The oxygen in the air prevents its surface from curing.
Anyhow, I'm coating the outside with glazing putty and will get some paint on it once I get it sanded smooth and primed. Getting some work done on my little apartment balcony porch:
Do any of you know:
* Is it safe to primer and paint straight over the tacky surface of the polyester resin? I expect that its surface will cure fully once I get something sprayed onto it that will seal it.
* Can I use polyester resin with microspheres as sandable filler for smoothing out the exterior of the shell? It seems to NOT be sandable as it is, with the surface tacky... would I need to mix in some kind of wax with the microspheres for this to work? Would the was create problems for additional coats?
Oh, I guess I'm committed again to posting some mileage logs. I posted up my last 18 gallons (two fill-ups) today. I averaged 34 mpg. That's quite better than any tank I've previously recorded. I haven't done any EOffC, only EOnC.
Still need to get an ignition cutoff switch installed... I got a switchable fuse to install in place of my fuel injection fuse. I need to read a bit more, but assume that'll work for me.